Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources

Authentication Guidelines

The Authentication section briefly describes methods to ensure the identity and validity of established key biological and/or chemical resources used in the proposed study. Standard laboratory reagents that are not expected to vary do not need to be included in the plan (examples are buffers and other common biologicals or chemicals).

Plans should be based on accepted practices in the relevant field. Include frequency of authentication and stability over long-term use. Applicants should not include experimental methods or preliminary data. See additional details on authentication requirements in the links below.

Page Limit: None. Recommended 1 page.

Resources:

• NIH Authentication Plan Examples (Word Doc)
• Presentation on Rigor and Transparency from the University of Colorado School of Medicine (PDF)
• Presentation on Rigor, Transparency and Reproducibility from the University of Rochester Medical Center (PDF)
• NIH Reviewer Guidance on Rigor and Transparency (PDF)
• NIH FAQs on Rigor and Transparency (including authentication)
• Reminder: Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources (NOT-OD-17-068)
• NIH Guidelines on Authentication from SF 424 FORMS H